At least some form of religious intolerance is apparent in several ASEAN countries. Myanmar has its conflict with the Rohingya issue which is propagating religious intolerance among the country’s Buddhists and Muslims. Similarly, Thailand’s deep south insurgency has resulted in some level of intolerance among the Buddhists and Muslims there as well.
Jakarta's former governor was released from prison Thursday, nearly two years after his blasphemy conviction fanned fears of religious intolerance in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.Basuki Tjahaja Purnama – the Indonesian capital's first non-Muslim governor in half a century and its first ethnic Chinese leader – left a prison outside the capital after dawn.Supporters of the Christian ex-governor, who is popularly known as Ahok, gathered outside the prison, chanting a
Home to the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia recently saw tens of thousands of its Muslims marching in Jakarta.
The largest democracy in Southeast Asia is gearing up for its upcoming elections season. Indonesians will go to the polls twice, once this year and once again in the following year. The country’s local elections will be held first and is slated for 27 June, this year. These elections are being held to elect 17 governors, 39 mayors and 115 regents across Indonesia. Meanwhile, the Presidential elections will be held on 17 April, 2019.
A year ago today, Jakarta’s incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, gave a speech when he made his rounds educating the citizens on their voting rights in the Thousand Islands region of North Jakarta. Ahok, the first Christian of Chinese descent to govern the nation’s capital city since Henk Ngantung in 1965, referenced a verse from the Islamic holy book, Al-Maidah 51.
